50 Years and Counting…
Ecumen Lakeshore team member celebrates milestone anniversary
By Lisa Hawks | October 9, 2026
SHOREVIEW, MN (October 9, 2026) — In 1975, when Cathy Firth started at Lakeshore as a dishwasher working alongside her mom, Gloria, in the kitchen, she knew she was in the right place.
“When I started there, making $2.12 an hour, the ladies working in the kitchen just wrapped me in their arms and I knew I’d found home right away,” Cathy said.
What she didn’t realize then is that it would be her work home for the next 50 years, because Ecumen Lakeshore is still home to Cathy. With no immediate plans to retire, she recently celebrated her 50 years with her colleagues, family, friends, as well as Lakeshore residents and tenants.
“In 50 years and counting, Cathy’s impact goes far beyond the years she’s put in,” said Cyrus Batheja, Ecumen president & CEO. “It’s really about the lives she’s touched and the relationships she’s built over the years, which is evident in the people who are here celebrating her today.”
Over the years, she’s taken on a number of roles, including becoming the first woman to serve as Lakeshore’s Environmental Services Manager. Now the receptionist, Cathy has seen incredible changes during her tenure and she’s shouldered tremendous responsibility, such as helping to move residents to Central High School (the highest point in Duluth) during the benzene spill in 1992. Through it all, she has found people — both her colleagues and the residents she serves — that she considers family.
And speaking of family, in addition to her mom who worked at Lakeshore in the 1970s, Cathy’s son and grandson also worked there – marking four generations of her family serving the Duluth community at Lakeshore.
Due to her years of service and dedication to the organization, Cathy is known as Lakeshore’s historian, but as Ecumen Lakeshore executive director, Blaine Gamst said, “Cathy doesn’t just remember Lakeshore’s history. She helped write the story.”
“Ecumen has been really good to me,” Cathy said. “And it really is home for me. This is my family.”
About Ecumen
Ecumen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing innovative housing, health care and community-based services that support older adults and strengthen communities. Mission-driven since its founding in 1862, Ecumen’s legacy of service reflects a commitment to honoring those it serves. Ecumen is based in Shoreview, Minn., and provides housing options such as independent living, assisted living, memory care, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Its diverse in-home and community-based services include home care, hospice, physical and occupational therapy, and adult day services. For more information, visit www.ecumen.org.